The Royal Scandal *Book One*

Three Wrongs and a Right S1 E11

After finding out that my Father had invited a suitor, I had retreated to my room and I will most probably hide in here until it is all over. There was no way in hell I was meeting any suitor, I already have someone. Not that Father knows that, but still, he shouldn't go round making assumptions like that.

I had been hiding in my room for about three hours, mainly just reading about magic and attempting to practise it, when there was a knock at my door.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"It's Arthur and yes, I am alone," Arthur said.

I slowly opened the door and saw that he was alone.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Father has requested us immediately. I can see the look on your face. But remember, we have a plan for this sort of thing. We've had one ever since the first time," Arthur reminded me.

"Oh my God! I forgot about that," I smiled.

After my first suitor came when I was 13, Arthur and I made a plan of what to do should it happen again. The plan was simple. Just make them hate me. According to Arthur, most men in the nobility don't like a women who speaks her mind or shows any acts of unwomanliness. Luckily for us, I can do both very well. Arthur would encourage the topics of conversation that I could rant about for hours and then he would suggest that they have a false duel. Of course, Arthur would then chuck me a sword rather than my suitor and Arthur and I would fight. By then, we would have usually driven them all away. It was simple, yet effective.

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Arthur and I now found ourselves in the middle of a field with Father. Apparently all of our crops had failed and now we were seeing them for ourselves.

I bent down and picked a single crop and in my hands it fell to pieces.

"Every single ear has died," I muttered.

"We've received reports that it's the same throughout the entire Kingdom," Father told us.

"Chelsea and I, we rode through this valley only yesterday. The crop looked healthy then," Arthur said. I looked around and realised that he was right. We rode through here after...after he killed the unicorn!

"It happened overnight," Father added. "The farmers are at a loss to explain."

"Is it a disease of some kind?" Arthur asked.

"Perhaps," Father agreed.

"It's the curse that Gaius told us about. You know, the unicorn one?" I said.

"Don't be so ridiculous, Chelsea. I've asked the court physician to run some tests. We must ration what little food we have left," Father told us, before turning and leaving.

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Not even an hour later I was called back to my Father and Arthur.

"What's happened now?" I asked, as I approached them.

"The livestock is either dying or has been eaten. Food and water is very scarce and we're distributing rations but they're very meagre," Arthur explained, as he led us to a room where we kept all our grain.

"This is all the grain we have?" I asked worried.

"The people are growing scared. There's been some looting," Arthur told us.

"We must maintain order at all costs. Panic will only make the situation worse," Father said. Finally something that makes sense! "I'll issue a decree that looters will be executed." Spoke too soon. "Chelsea, my dear. I am afraid that considering the circumstances, I will have to contact your suitor and ask for them not to come. We can't afford to feed any more people."